Discovering the complex relationship between gene variants and muscle injuries may assist coaches, physiologists, and the medical community to development tailored injury prevention program for football players, which could provide a new edge for successful competition.

BackgroundThe aim of this study was to investigate the association between MCT1 rs1049434 polymorphism and indirect muscle injuries in elite football players. One hundred and seventy-three male elite Italian football players (age = 19.2 ± 5.3 years) were recruited from a first-league football club participating at the Official National Italian Football Championship (Serie A, Primavera, Allievi, Giovanissimi). The cohort was genotyped for the MCT1 rs1049434 polymorphism, and muscle injuries data were collected during the period of 2009–2014 (five football seasons).MethodsGenomic DNA was extracted using a buccal swab, and genotyping was performed using PCR method. Structural-mechanical injuries and functional muscle disorder were included in the acute indirect muscle injury group.ResultsParticipants with the MCT1 AA (AA = 1.57 ± 3.07, n = 69) genotype exhibit significantly higher injury incidents compared to participants with the TT genotype (TT = 0.09 ± 0.25, n = 22, P = 0.04).ConclusionsThe MCT1 rs1049434 polymorphism is associated with the incidence of muscle injuries in elite football players. We anticipate that the knowledge of athletes’ genetic predisposition to sports-related injuries might aid in individualizing training programs.

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Abstract. The aim of the present study was to investigate the association between vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene polymorphisms and musculoskeletal injury (MI) in elite football players. In total, 54 male professional football players were recruited from an official Italian professional championship team between 2009 and 2013. The cohort was genotyped for the ApaI, BsmI and FokI polymorphisms and MI data were collected over four football seasons. No significant differences were identified among the genotypes in the incidence rates or severity of MI (P= 0.254). In addition, no significant associations were observed between VDR polymorphisms and MI phenotypes (P=0.460). However, the results of the casewise multiple regression analysis indicated that the ApaI genotypes accounted for 18% of injury severity (P=0.002). Therefore, while the BsmI and FokI polymorphisms did not appear to be associated with the severity or incidence of MI, the ApaI genotypes may have influenced the severity of muscle injury in top-level football players. IntroductionThe vitamin D receptor (VDR) gene is located on human chromosome 12 (12q12-q14) and is 100 kb in length, with >100 restriction endonuclease cutting site polymorphisms (1). VDR is a member of the steroid superfamily of nuclear receptors, which serve key functions in the regulation of the transcriptional activity of the vitamin D metabolite 1α, 25-dihydroxyvitamin D3. Vitamin D performs an established role in calcium metabolism, increasing the absorption of calcium and phosphate from the intestines and the reabsorption of calcium in the kidneys. Furthermore, vitamin D is hypothesized to be crucial in skeletal muscle function, and VDRs have been identified in this tissue (2,3). In addition, vitamin D has been hypothesized to influence myocytes via VDRs, resulting in myocyte proliferation, differentiation, growth and inflammation (4).The VDR gene contains numerous polymorphisms. A polymorphic start codon in the 5' end of the gene is identified by the restriction enzyme FokI. There are three polymorphisms at the 3' end of the VDR gene, generating the BsmI, ApaI and TaqI restriction sites (5).These functional genetic polymorphisms in the VDR gene may be associated with tissues that respond to vitamin D, including muscle cells and adipocytes. Skeletal muscle is established to be a target organ for vitamin D, and vitamin D metabolites directly affect muscle cell metabolism via a number of pathways (6). Furthermore, previous studies have associated vitamin D deficiency with muscular weakness (6,7).Numerous cohort and cross-sectional studies have investigated the associations between vitamin D status and various parameters of neuromuscular performance. Prior studies have indicated that vitamin D exerts a beneficial effect on these parameters (7-10); however, certain other studies have contradicted these findings (11)(12)(13)(14).Muscle injury is a major problem for football players and has been reported to account for 20-37% of all injury-associated time loss at the male professional leve...